Show case basket



Dec. 12, 1933. 1,939,504

SSSSSSSSSSSS ET arch 16, 1933 A ska? Q ii I fi eg g Patented Dec. 12, 1933 v 9 1,939,504 snow cAsii BASKET I Melville R. Lee, St. Paul; Minn; assignor to Excelsior Baking Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota 9 Application March 16, 1933; SeriabNor- 661,132

6 claims.

This'invention relates to display means, and more particularly to a display case or basket of a portable type; v

-An object of this invention is to provide a tray 1 or basket for display purposes which is relatively lightin weight and which is constructed to receive a quantity of articles, the articles being maintained within the marginal portions of the basket while at the same-timebeing easilyzseen and readily removed from the device. r

Another object of this invention is to provide a'relatively strongly constructed tray or' basket structure which can be used in thedistribution of articles such as pastry, bread or the like, and which will hold the articles in'a convenient po- -sition where the articles canfbe readily viewed and also'from which the-articles may be readily removed. 9 I V A furtherobjctof-this invention'is to provide a structure of this kind which" is so constructed 'that'it issubstantially balanced in-the' center adjacent the rear thereof so-that it'can be readily and conveniently carried in one hand by a han- "dle structure positioned in'the center of the device; i

I The above and various other "objects and advantages of this invention willin part be described and in part'be understood'from the foll wing" detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the same being-illustrated in i the accompanying drawing whereint-v- *Figure 1 isa detail perspective view of a device'constructed' according to the preferred em- :bodiment of this invention. 1

35 Figure 2 is an enl'argedsectional viewpartly in detail taken through'the handle and showing the.

manner of securing the handle to the frame.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference-designate corresponding parts 1 throughout'ithe viewsythe numeral 10 designates generally a lower tray or basket which is constructed of a plurality of wires which are spaced apart and welded or otherwise secured together at their contacting points-the tray or basket 10 beingponstructed'of longitudinal wires '11 and transverse wires 12.

Thelongitudinal wires orbars 11 are bent upwardly about substantially rectangulanshaped gframe members 13 and 14, the'member 13 being a lower frame member and-the member 14 being an upper frame member each constructed of a single piece of wire, the abutting ends of which are butt welded or otherwise secured together to for a continuous frame member. 1 r

r I The longitudinal; wires 11 are bent upwardly to form end members 15, which extend above the top frame member 14 and which are secured'to a substantially L-shaped bar 16 constituting an extension of the end walls of the lower tray or basket 10. 'The transverse bars "or wires 12 are bent upwardly'at the .front, as at 17, and terminate coplanar withthe upper frame member 14 so as to provide a relatively shallow front edge to the tray 10. The back wall of the tray 10 is upwardly and rearwardly inclined by bending the wires or bars 12 upwardly and rearwardly, as at 18.

Inthis manner, the bottom of the tray 10at the rear is offset forwardly for convenience in carrying so that the lower edge of the device will not chafe the person carrying the tray. An upperand rear tray structure, generally designated as 19, is secured to the lower'tray 10 by means of corner posts 20 and 21, the posts 20 being the rear posts and the posts 21 being the front posts, which front posts are disposed rearwardly of the front wall of the lower tray 10 so that a portion'of the lower tray will be exposed forwardly of the upper tray structure 19. v

' The upper tray or rackstructure 19 comprises 7 an upper wire 22 and a lower wire 23, which are spaced apart and spot'welded or otherwise secured to the corner posts 20 and 21, and these wire frame members 22 and 23 are constructed in endless or loopedform by butt welding the abutting ends of the members together.

The upper rack or tray structure 19 includes end boxes 24 and an intermediate rack structure 25. The end boxes or racks 24 are constructed of longitudinally extending bars 26 and trans-- verse bars 27 which are welded or otherwise secured together at their meeting points, and the outer ends of the bottom longitudinal bars 26 are welded or otherwise secured to the end wall them ber 16. The transverse bars 27 have vertical extensions 28'at each end thereof, which vertical extensions are secured to the looped frame members V 22 and 23 and terminate at their upper ends coplanar with the upper frame member 22.

The bottom of the end rack or box 24 is disposed downwardly from the lower frame member 23, and this feature provides a relatively deep box or rack to receive articles such as bread which may be positioned in endwise position. An intermedi-' ate transverse member 29 is positioned between,

a pair of the transverse bars 27 and this intermediate bottom member 29 has only one vertical extension 30 which is connected to the rear 'of the frame members 22 and 23.

The upper or intermediate tray or rack strucbent rearwardly, as at 35, so that the front and rear walls of the end and intermediate racks are formed of a continuous piece of wire, and these racks or trays communicate their adjacent ends.

The longitudinal bars 31 are connected to the longitudinal bars 26 by means of extensions 36 which, in the present instance, are integral with each of these bars, so that a continuous bottom wall structure is provided, a portion of this botone with another at tomwall constituting a side wall of the .end boxes.

The upperframe member 22 is forwardly offset, as at '37, being bent in theform of a substantially U-shape and this forward extension is braced as by forwardly inclined bracing members 38 which are welded to the longitudinal bars 31 and terminate in vertical extensions 39.

1 Additional bracing members 40 connect the forwardly inclined extensions 38 with the vertical members 39 at a point intermediate the upper and lower ends of these two members. A pair of looped bracing members 41 extend about the upper and lower tray members 10 and 19 at subf stantially the longitudinal center thereof, and these two bracing members 41 are positioned in contacting relation with each other and are welded to the upper and lower trays at the points of contact of these bracingmembers with the frame members 13; 14, 22 and 23.

A handle comprising a'channeled block or member42 provided with a channel 43 is positioned between the rear side of the framemember 22 and the bight of the U-shaped member 37 with the two bracing members 41 positioned, in the channel 43. or plate 44 secured as byrivets 45 to the top thereof so as to cover the channel43, and these rivets. or securing members 45 are preferably positioned between the .two bracing members 41. The forward end of the handlestructure including the block 42 and the plate 44 is cut out, as at 46; to receive the bight of the U-shaped member 37 and in like manner, the rear end of the handle is recessed, as at 47, to engage beneath the rear of theframe member 22.

A leg structure comprising a pair, of U-shaped bars or members 48 is secured to the lower tray 10, the leg members 48 having the bight thereof projected below the bottom. of the tray 10. In this manner, the articles positioned in the lower tray 10 will not be disturbed or injured by positioning the display, structure hereinbefore described on an uneven surface.

Preferably, the upper frame member 22. is

downwardly and forwardly inclined so that only I a relatively small amount of wire will be positioned on theforward'side of the upper tray.

The end posts 20 and 21 not only support the rear and upper tray structure 19 inia position spaced upwardly from the lower tray 10 but also constitute corner members for the end trays or boxes 24.

In the use of this device,'the desiredarticles in theform of pies, cakes or the like may be positioned'in' the lower tray-'10,- which is relatively The channel block 42 has a cover wide as well as long or, if desired, a number of loaves of bread may be positioned in this tray although the upper tray structure 19 is particularly designed to hold a number of loaves of bread, these loaves being positioned in a vertical position within this upper tray structure. The handle structure is positioned in the center of the case and is so positioned that the case when filled will. be readily balanced from the center position so that the device can be readily carried in one hand.

, It is, of course, understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable display means comprising two wire trays one of said trays being narrower than the other and constituting an upper tray, means for supporting the upper tray in spaced relation to the other or lower tray, a bracing, means engaging about the two traysat substantiallyv the longitudinal center thereof, said upper tray comprising an intermediate tray portion and end tray portions, said end tray portions having the bottom thereof disposed in downwardly offset relation to the intermediate portion and saidendiwi tray portions having a portion of the forward wall thereof forwardly offset whereby to receive and support elongated articlesv in vertical position.

2. A display means comprising an upper tray, a lower tray, each of said trays comprising upper and lower wire looped members, a plurality of longitudinally extending bars extending within the lower frame member of each tray and terminating at each end in vertical extensions secured to each loop and acting to hold the loops in spaced relation to each other, transversely extending I bars coacting with the longitudinal bars to form a substantially" web-like bottom structure for each tray, said transverse bars terminating at eachendin vertical extensions secured .to the loops and. coacting with the vertical extensions of the longitudinal bars to hold the loops in spaced relation to each other, a transversely extending supporting means engaging the lower 'f25 tray adjacent each end thereof to support, the lower tray in upwardly spaced relation to a plane surface, a bracing means engaging about the-two trays, and means for supporting the upper tray in upwardly spaced relation to the lower tray and adjacent therear wall of the lower tray.

3. A display means comprising two tray members, and means for'securing the members together in superposed and spaced relation to each other, oneof said members comprising an inter- 435 mediate tray portion and end Itray portions having downwardly onset bottoms, each of said end tray portions communicating with said intermediate tray portion. 3

4. A display means comprising two tray manbers, and means for securing the members in superposed and spaced relation to each other,

one of said members comprising an intermediate tray portion and end tray portions, said end tray beraand means for securing'the members te gether in superposed and spaced relation to each other, one of said members comprising an intermediate tray portion and end tray portions, said end tray portions having forwardly offset front walls, each of said end tray portions communicating with said intermediate tray portion.

6. A portable display means comprising two trays one of said trays being narrower than the other and constituting an upper tray, means for supporting the upper tray in spaced relation to- 

